January 19,2008 / Eastern Magic / "The January Thaw Cruise"

[jsheridan]

Unfortunately, I am one that has to wait until the 75 day mark . I'm still trying to figure out our excursions.

One thing that would help me would be to know what times some of the excursions are. Can someone that has access please let me know the times for the Seaworld Explorer on St. Maarten and the Atlantis Submarine on St. Thomas?

Thanks so much.

 

[Bethipooh4]

Unfortunately, I am one that has to wait until the 75 day mark . I'm still trying to figure out our excursions.

One thing that would help me would be to know what times some of the excursions are. Can someone that has access please let me know the times for the Seaworld Explorer on St. Maarten and the Atlantis Submarine on St. Thomas?

Well, I got the red message of death again from Disney....I tried to go onto the website to look up the times for you....

But according to my passporter, The Atlantis Submarine in St Thomas runs at
9:15, 10:15 and noon.

The Seaworld explorer at St Maarten runs at 8:15 and 1:15 according to the book.

As soon as the website will let me in, I can look there too.But this will give you an approximate.

Hope this helps....

 

[plenam]

Brett...did you have any luck with your phone calls?

Got some good news today....They finally fixed the system error and we got our Palo ressie but didn't get the excursion we wanted, but Laura the supervisor said they will try.

It must have been a major error. We had to phone in the passport numbers and some other info because of the problem. Beth, try calling and see if they can help you out. I'm sure they know there is a computer problem and will work with you.....Good luck.

Brett

 

[KayR]

We also can't reserve anything until the 75 day mark. I hope the errors are all fixed by then.

We only want Palo and spa reservations, so fingers crossed there are some left!

We are doing a No Rush Tour of St Martin and will probably be independent on St Thomas too.

Gosh, this last 3 months will go flying by...

-Kay

 

[imlazar]

We got our spa reservations, I'm treating the Mrs. to the couple's choice (and praying that the kids don't page us from the club).

Palo was pretty booked up when I checked (Sunday night).

As far as excursions, here's what we're thinking:

- St. Martaan - Orient beach via taxi, yes we've heard good and bad but the good seems to outweigh the bad. We're still not entirely set on this one though. Can anyone recommend any better beaches for us (DSs 7 & 5).

- St. Thomas - Coral World/Coki Beach via taxi.

 

[imlazar]

If you reserved anything over the weekend you might want to double-check your reservations. I just logged into the site and our couples choice reservation was gone. Fortunately I was able to make the reservation again as no one else had taken the slot.

Still, had I not discovered this until later I would have been pretty upset.

 

[missyoh8]

I noticed the same thing right after I had reserved and rebooked quickly. I thought maybe I had made a mistake, but if someone else had a similar experience I now think it was in the system.

I then made certain to print everything to take with us.

10 more weeks! WOO HOO

 

[KayR]

OK, so I am sooo excited. It is 4am here and I have just managed to secure an illuminations cruise at WDW for the 26th January!! (our anniversary) . OK it is off one boat onto another, but I think it will be a cool way to celebrate our anniversary and much cheaper than the onboard vow renewal.



Now I just need to snag our Palo reservations and spa times when I am allowed to (only 8 more days). At least that will be at a more reasonable hour of the day.

BTW - for those of you who may be in the area a bit longer, I have been told that MK will be doing their pirates and princesses party (after hours party/event) around January.

Now I am too excited to go back to sleep just yet.

-Kay

p.s. Thanks to the Dis for the great information on how to secure an illuminations cruise!

 

[Bethipooh4]

Kay,

The 26th is our anniversary too!!!! We are spending the weekend at WDW after the cruise..(shhh don't tell, its a surprise) and I am hoping that they hold a pirate and princess party that night. I was kinda bummed the park closed at 7, but now I am crossing my fingers its because of the party.

OK, so I have to ask, whats an illuminations cruise?

 

[KayR]

Illuminations is the fireworks in EPCOT. You can rent a boat and it will take you to the bridge between UK and France where you can watch illuminations from the water. There are only 5 boats available and they go within the first minute that you can book them.

It is an awesome place to watch the fireworks from. You are water level and not only do you see/hear the fireworks, you can feel them through the water/boat. It beats waiting for an hour for a good viewing spot and trying to fight the crowds on the way out too!

I was looking for something special to do for our anniversary evening (as if the Disney cruise wasn't enough!). This seemed a great way to celebrate.

They also do a similar thing for the Wishes fireworks for the MK, but you are on the big lagoon outside the park (rather than being inside the park) and you need a boat with an audio feed for the MK fireworks.

There are no dates for the PP Party on the WDW website yet, but the reservations lady told me that they would be taking them soon. I think 1st Nov if memory serves me correct. (It was 4am!). You could try calling WDW and see if they know the dates.

-Kay

 

[jsheridan]

I just tried to reserve the semisub at Coral World on my own. They responded that they are COMPLETELY booked that day as there are SEVEN ships in St. Thomas that day!!! No wonder we have to tender that day.

I guess I will have to hope the excursion is still available next week when we can make our reservations! So much for saving some money & going at our own pace...

I know that Palo may be gone next week. How are the excursions usually at the 75 day mark?

 

[imlazar]

I just tried to reserve the semisub at Coral World on my own. They responded that they are COMPLETELY booked that day as there are SEVEN ships in St. Thomas that day!!! No wonder we have to tender that day.

I guess I will have to hope the excursion is still available next week when we can make our reservations! So much for saving some money & going at our own pace...

I know that Palo may be gone next week. How are the excursions usually at the 75 day mark?

We got the same message from them. They did say they reserve about 60 slots for each of the ship, but having done these types of semi-sub trips on our last two cruises I can tell you that they are rarely full.

We plan to head over in the morning on our own and spend the day at Coral World and the beach next door. Hopefully they'll be able to squeeze us into one of the launches.

 

[autumnlala]

You all are making me so excited with all your plans!!

My family is trying to figure out a good night to head to Palo, does anyone know for sure when Pirate Night is? We definitely DON'T want to do Palo that night.

I have read it is typically Tuesday (St. Maarten) on the Eastern. Any confirmation?

Thanks!!

 

[missyoh8]

It is my understanding that it will be Tuesday. We were told that the fireworks could only be done on that night because of the location.

I would plan on that.

 

[Bethipooh4]

Last year, 2 in our group had to book at 75 days out..they had no problems getting excursions or Palo dinner. One family booked it(Palo) on a separate night from ours, but once we got on the ship, Palo worked it's magic and got all of us together(10) for dinner.

The only problem we had with the stingray excursions is that they got different times, so we just switched our already booked time.

7 ships are going to be in St Thomas?? WOW...thats alot of people.

 

[owensjro]

FYI, if you are an annual passholder there is a 35% discount on the Pirates/Princesses party on Jan 26th.

Jim

 

[tidefan]

FYI, if you are an annual passholder there is a 35% discount on the Pirates/Princesses party on Jan 26th.

Jim

Jim, do you know if there is a DVC discount that night? I called MS and got a studio reserved at Saratoga Springs, but they insisted that Tickets could not be purchased yet and that they did not know the dates yet. I told her that many here on the DIS had bought tickets, but she insisted that they were not for sale yet and that I would need to call back.

Weird.

Anyway, we will be at the P and P party on the 26th as well...

Brad...

 

[owensjro]

Jim, do you know if there is a DVC discount that night? I called MS and got a studio reserved at Saratoga Springs, but they insisted that Tickets could not be purchased yet and that they did not know the dates yet. I told her that many here on the DIS had bought tickets, but she insisted that they were not for sale yet and that I would need to call back.

Weird.

Anyway, we will be at the P and P party on the 26th as well...

Brad...

I have not heard anything from DVC. THe passholder email just came yesterday. It looks like the dates are official and you can book through the passholder site. I plan to do it today. Here it is:

October 31–December 15
For a limited-time only, Passholders save 35% off advance purchase tickets for Disney's Pirate and Princess Party! Discounted tickets are available for purchase 10/31–-12/15 for event dates between January 1, 2008, and March 14, 2008.

 

[Gixer]

Hi Thawers

Just catching up with all the posts as we have been in the UK for the last 3 weeks. Beth - can you put us down for the bag swap & tag please?

For those of us that are waiting to make ressies at the 75 day point, when exactly do we log in to do that? is it midnight on Saturday night?

 

[jsheridan]

I thought it was midnight on Sunday night? Eek. Which is correct?